Her Imaginary Lover Read Free Page B

toothbrush?" she asked, and he chuckled.
    "Yes, they
did. Let me buzz the nurse for you, to help you freshen up. I'll be just
outside that curtain."
    "Promise?"
    "Cross my
heart and hope to die, munchkin." He placed a kiss on her forehead, and
then he was gone with a rush of air.
    "You
called, my lovely." The over enthusiastic young sounding voice must belong
to one of the nurses, or maybe a health care assistant, and Macie nodded.
    "Yes, I
would like to freshen up, please."
    "Of course
you would. I can give you a wash down. Don’t think you ought to leave that bed
just yet. I'm Mandy by the way."
    She helped Macie
sit up and kept up a stream of over friendly chatter. By the time Macie was in
her own nightdress, and with her hair and teeth brushed, she was quite
exhausted, and couldn't stop her yawn.
    Mandy laughed
and settled her back down on the cushions and lowered the bed.
    "There you
are. You just snuggle in now for the night, and you'll feel lots better in the
morning, you'll see."
    "Thank
you, Mandy," Macie said, and smiled in the general direction of the young
woman's voice.
    "All in a day's
work, my dear, and it was my pleasure."
    "Mandy, can
I ask you something before you leave? I'm sorry, I
know you must be busy."
    "Sure
thing, my lovely, shoot."
    Macie hesitated,
for surely if there had been a naked man here, Mandy would have called for
security or something, but she had to know for sure.
    "Was
anybody here or just leaving when you arrived?"
    "No,
my lovely, no one. I saw your parents leave earlier, if that's what you mean," she said.
    Macie shook her
head and swallowed down the sudden lump of apprehension in her throat.
    "No, it's
okay, thank you."
    "Well, okay
then. Sleep well, my dear."
    Macie dutifully
shut her eyes and tried to sleep, but it was impossible. When she did snooze
off all she achieved was to relive the attack over and over again. The noises
of a busy hospital surrounded her, and she flinched when someone came to take
her blood pressure, and placed a thermometer under her arm. Of Kaylom there was no sign. So much for
being just outside her curtain. Then again, if he was real, he couldn't
stay she supposed. It was enough to do her head in. Real or a figment of her
imagination, and if the latter what did it say about her state of mind that she
imagined him naked? Was she that sex deprived that she had to make up a brawny
naked man as her rescuer?
    Macie grimaced
in the never ending darkness that surrounded her. The sex deprived part was
true at least. Macie refused to be a notch on a man's bed post, and that's all
men seemed to want her for. The novelty of sleeping with the blind girl was all
well and good, but no one wanted a relationship, no matter how self-sufficient
she was. Still, who needed a man? Her battery operated friends worked just as
well, if not better. They didn’t clutter up her place with dirty socks and
shoes out of place that meant she tripped up over them, and sent herself
flying.
    Whoever her
rescuer had been, it couldn't have been Kaylom . She'd
left her imaginary friend behind years ago, and she wouldn't allow him to
invade her life again. It had caused countless problems back then, had made her
doubt her own sanity, and she couldn't do that to her parents—not again. As it
was she would have the devil of a job to convince her father to let her get
back to her own cozy flat once she was discharged from the hospital, and there
was no way she'd move in with her parents, even if only for the short term. She’d
fought too long and hard for her independence to have those bastards who
attacked her snatch it away from her now.
    It might take
her a long time before she could sleep without nightmares again, but she would
get there. And she would sign up for those self-defense classes, too. She
eventually drifted off to sleep with a determined smile on her face.
    ****
    Kaylom watched her
sleep. He'd had to leave earlier. Knowing that she was naked behind that flimsy
hospital curtain